America’s Role in an Increasingly Dangerous World: Are We Ready to Lead?

You are cordially invited to a lecture on the topic of America’s Role in an Increasingly Dangerous World: Are We Ready to Lead?withJamil N. JafferDirector of the National Security Institute, George Mason University Scalia Law School

Tuesday, May 1st4:30 – 5:30 PM

The Institute of World Politics1521 16th Street NWWashington, D.C.Parking

About the Lecture: Today, America is beset by challenges both internally and externally. Economic and social changes at home have created significant pressure on our internal culture and political life. At the same time, threats from the outside continue to grow and morph at alarming speed. The continued terrorist threat from groups like al Qaeda and ISIS is very real and is enhanced by the situation in Syria and the refugee flows and integration challenges in Europe, which, when combined with terrorist recruitment and radicalization over the Internet, have the potential to spill over into the United States and affect our citizens at home and abroad. All the while North Korea seeks to develop nuclear weapons that might reach the United States and engages in nuclear proliferation worldwide, and Iran’s compliance with the Obama-era nuclear deal is spotty at best and the its regime continues support groups like Hizballah and stoke chaos in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. At the same time, Russia feels free to threaten our allies in Eastern Europe and works to undermine confidence in our domestic political system, while the Chinese continue to build outposts in the South China Sea and steal American intellectual property undermining our increasingly innovation focused economy. And many of these actors seek to use cyber attacks to effectuate their political goals.

Suffice it to say, America is significantly challenged across the board. In order to confront these challenges, Professor Jamil N. Jaffer, a former senior Bush Administration official and Capitol Hill staffer who currently serves as the Director of the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Scalia Law School, will argue that American leadership and strong, assertive action is critical.

About the Speaker: Jamil N. Jaffer is the Founder of National Security Institute and an Adjunct Professor of Law and Director of the National Security Law & Policy Program at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. Jamil also currently serves as Vice President for Partnerships & Strategy at IronNet Cybersecurity, a technology startup, and as an advisor to Beacon Global Strategies, a strategic advisory firm and 4iQ, a deep and dark web intelligence startup. Jamil is also a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and is affiliated with Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. Prior to his current positions, Jamil served on Capitol Hill in a variety of roles, including as Chief Counsel and Senior Advisor for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senior Counsel to the House Intelligence Committee, and in the Bush Administration in a number of positions, including in the front office of the National Security Division at the Justice Department and in the White House as an Associate Counsel to the President. Jamil also served as a law clerk to Justice Neil M. Gorsuch of the U.S. Supreme Court and two federal appellate judges and holds degrees from UCLA, the University of Chicago Law School, and the United States Naval War College.

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